Tuesday, July 12, 2016

If I didn’t write, I’d burst from lack of creativity and
living a real life. Jesus freed me from legalistic religion, and I want others
to know they can be free, too.

Besides when you came
to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?

It really would have to be my wedding day. We had a fast
romance, and between being scared and happy and grateful and disheveled all at
once, I’d say that day was the happiest of my life. Falling in love is
life-changing.

James and I met each
other 3 months and 3 days before we married, and we will celebrate 52 years in
November. How has being published changed your life?

It boosted my confidence tremendously. I owe a great debt to
my first publisher because I think I’d have given up if I’d had to wait much
longer.

It took 8 years to
get my first book published, and it was 10 years between book 1 and book 2, but
look what’s happened since. What are you reading right now?

I read a variety. I started “25 Books Every Christian Should
Read,” and though I’ve read a few of them, these are scholarly books, so I’m
grateful for the “Cliff’s Notes” contained in the book. Also, I have an
autobiography by Vladimir Putin called First
Person; An Astonishingly Frank Self-Portrait on my nightstand. I love
Russian history and I’m curious about Putin. I just picked up a children’s copy
of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight retold
by Michael Morpurgo at the library. Because children’s versions are more
attractive that adult ones, I love them. They’re more understandable, too.

What is your current
work in progress?

It excites me to say that I’m finishing the Believe in Love
Series with Book 3, For Time and Eternity.
I also resurrected an old manuscript of a children’s fantasy (now called
speculative fiction) and I’m having fun re-writing it. The working title is Here There Be Dragons.

What would be your
dream vacation?

I’d love to go back to Italy, which happens to be where A
Saint in the Eternal City takes place. I would drive around the island of Sicily where I spent time when I was
young. If I could combine that with a visit to J. R. R. Tolkien’s and C. S.
Lewis’ haunts in Oxford, England, it would be my dream
vacation.

How do you choose
your settings for each book?

I’m familiar with my settings, Utah
and Italy.
I lived in both for a time. I wanted to juxtapose the two cultures, one in the New World, the other far more ancient. Contrasting the
cultures helped my book.

If you could spend an
evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?

I’d spend the evening with Peter Jackson, talking about how
he was able to write a screenplay like The
Lord of the Rings so well; how he chose elements to include in the plot and
how he achieved such good acting from his actors.

What are your
hobbies, besides writing and reading?

Film watching, gardening, cooking, and sewing. If I don’t
sew for a few months, I’m itching to make something. I like to do quilted
landscapes. I’m a homebody, very domestic, much like a hobbit.

What is your most
difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?

Disciplining my time. I used to think I needed long blocks
of time to write, and that’s still what I prefer. But now I take what segments
of time I can, between grandchildren, cooking, and running the household.
Prayer helps calm my heart to write, and the drive to get it done returns.
Also, once I start, hours go by ... so starting is key.

What advice would you
give to a beginning author?

Learn to self-edit; it helps your writing in a way that
nothing else can. Be teachable; learn from others and be humble about it.
Believe in yourself, and in the Lord who gave you the gift. Never give up.

Tell us about the
featured book.

A Saint in the Eternal City continues the love story in A Gentile in Deseret; a romance between
a born-again Christ follower and a Latter-day Saint. The conflict is obvious—their
worldviews are different, their cultures are at odds. But they love each other
and pursue the relationship even though they have so much against them. God
intervenes and their story becomes one of a spiritual journey for truth.

Please give us the
first page of the book.

Chapter One

Missing Utah

Alex Campanaro sank deep into his garden chair, brooding
over a cup of dark roast coffee. Outside Rome,
his family’s villa reflected the sienna color of the sky this August morning,
but the beauty of the ancient house and courtyard had little effect on his
mood. Turmoil swept through him like splashing water in the nearby fountain,
scattering chaotic drops in every direction. A sudden breeze ruffled the violet
flowers climbing the pergola, as well as his wild curly hair. Pumping with
energy, he jumped up to pace the cobblestones.

His heart was back in Utah
with the girl he loved. How he missed his blue-eyed blonde, Jennalee Young.
Their goodbyes at high school graduation resounded in his mind whenever he
glanced at her senior picture on his new cellphone. The loss of her pervaded
his mind.

She’d told him, “I guess we set ourselves up for hurt like
this when we started going out. It’s all so impossible.” I’ll say impossible.
Jennalee was right; dating a Mormon girl when he was a sold-out born-again
Christian meant obstacles, lots of them. After she’d said it, he’d made a vain
effort to quiet her crying.

“Don’t look at it like that. One year, remember? We’ll be
back together in a year. I’ll email you, I promise.” A promise he couldn’t keep since all their
plans to communicate were a tangled mess. The pact to meet in a year fractured.
Would he ever see her again? Had she totally forgotten what they’d studied in
the Bible and gone back to her LDS roots? Maybe she didn’t want him to find
her.

On impulse before leaving for Italy, he’d sold his expensive
smart phone to buy a plane ticket, unaware he couldn’t relay his new number to
her, since her number had also changed. Her parents succeeded in taking over
her Facebook account, which she hadn’t seen in three months as far as he could
tell. All emails had gone unanswered. The Young family circled the wagons
around their daughter, blocking him out.

He had to find her, talk to her, but how could he leave his
demanding new job in Italy
to go back to Utah?
Just then his younger brother Gabe popped outside in his bathrobe, interrupting
his worries.

“Hey bro, have you seen my camera?” he asked, squinting in
the rich light. “I have to pack it for the trip back to Utah tomorrow.”

How can readers find you on the Internet?

I’m on Facebook, Twitter, and on my website,
RosanneCroft.com, which I’m currently building. Recently, I joined LinkedIn. Thanks,
Lena, for the opportunity to share with your
readers.

I enjoyed the opportunity to feature your new book. I know my readers are interested in reading it.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.

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Thanks for your comments. It was a fun book to write, and I believe it's interesting to read because my husband just finished it! Unusual for him to read fiction, but he's pushing me to get the third one done now.